


Why Shouldn’t It Be Real (Even when it isn’t)

by Milionking



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Major Character Injury, Marriage, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8456659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milionking/pseuds/Milionking
Summary: Some things happen in secret, others are faked for their own good.  For Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome, not everything is as it seems,





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aphelant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphelant/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Restricted Work] by [aphelant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphelant/pseuds/aphelant). Log in to view. 



> This was a prompt that was posted here in the archives this week. I have linked to the prompt that generated this story. Feel free to comment.

 

_1 week prior to the 2015 NHL Draft_

 

Dylan Strome and Connor McDavid are anticipated to be among the top prospects of the upcoming draft next week.  They’ve been playing well together in juniors becoming practically inseparable on and off the ice.  They know that it is highly unlikely that they will be drafted to the same team, but they are determined to have each other no matter the distance.

 

“Dylan, if there is one thing I’m good at… it’s getting what I want.  What I want is you and I together forever.”  Connor says one night as they are getting ready for bed.

 

“You gonna put your money where your mouth is there Davo?”  Dylan replies.

 

“We’ll see.”

 

_The night before the draft_

 

“Marry me Dylan, tonight.”  Connor begs.

 

“Where, how, don’t we need to get a license for that first?” Dylan has a confused look on his face.  If he was expecting anything from Connor, this wasn’t it.

 

Connor had everything planned out to the letter.  He had obtained a marriage license from Ontario before they left getting Dylan’s documents from his parents and dragged the family minister to Florida with him somehow convincing a man of the cloth to lie about the actual location of the wedding.  Three of Dylan and Connor’s teammates from the Otters are there to serve as witnesses as they secretly marry in the hotel room that Connor and Dylan share.  Connor even had rings ready to go.  Having been together for years means you know every inch of each other, especially if you plan on putting a ring on him.

 

Since their marriage will be legally certified in Canada, their last names will not change automatically as a result of the marriage.  Unless there is considerable digging at City Hall in Toronto, no one will ever know about this marriage.

 

_Draft night 2015_

 

“The Edmonton Oilers have the first selection.”  Bettman announces

 

“The Edmonton Oilers select Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters.”  Chiarelli screams to a packed room.  Connor gets up on stage holding a very fake looking smile on his face.

 

Jack Eickel is selected second by the Buffalo Sabres.

 

“The Arizona Coyotes have the third selection this round.” Bettman is determined to keep the momentum going.

 

Wayne Gretzky gets up on stage and states, “The Arizona Coyotes select Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters.”  Dylan gets up on stage with a similar fake smile, trying not to exhibit any disappointment with the distance he and Connor will now have during the season.  His eyes are seen darting around the room like he’s searching for someone.  He’s trying to find Connor in the crowd.

 

As the pre-season progresses it appears that the Coyotes do not think he’s quite ready for the NHL even with a 3 year contract.  They send him back to Erie for further development.

 

Less than one month into the new season, Connor breaks his clavicle.  Everyone on the team expected him to return home to Toronto; Connor ends back up in Erie at Dylan’s apartment.  Rumors start wandering around the Oiler’s locker room regarding their relationship.  Many knew before the draft that Connor and Dylan were joined at the hip.  Taylor Hall starts plotting.

 

_December 2015_

 

Hallsy and Nail start working on a plan to get Connor back to Edmonton for a team holiday party with friends and significant others invited.  Connor asks like a nice Canadian boy if he can bring Dylan along.  Taylor agrees without complaint.

 

As Connor and Dylan get packed into a booth with several teammates, Taylor notices that the pair as sitting abnormally close for friends.  Dylan has wrapped his left arm around Connor, and Taylor is pretty sure that if he held it at that height that long his arm would have fallen asleep.

Dylan gets up an hour later to use the restroom, Taylor decides it’s time to move in for the kill.  “Hey Connor, I have to ask, is Dylan your boyfriend?”  There are about 6 teammates including Nail within earshot of this conversation; Connor is now blushing to the point that he wishes that Dylan was here to hide him.

 

“Nice try Hallsy, he’s actually a little bit more than that actually.  Dylan is my husband.”

 

“Wait, when did you two do that?  Nobody seems to know that!”  Taylor looks astonished at the news.  Connor and Dylan did do things very secretly.

 

“Well we got married in our hotel room the night before the draft.  Only a couple of our Otter teammates were there to witness it.”

 

Taylor notices that there is an absence of proper hand holding that you would find in a relationship.  “So what’s up with the way you to hold hands, fingers linked together and such?”

 

Dylan comes back and re-laces his fingers in the same manner that Taylor just commented on.  He doesn’t notice right away that Connor is making no effort to hide it anymore.

 

Connor breathes deeply, “A couple of seasons ago, I broke my hand in a game.  They had me all casted up from my elbow down do the knuckles.  All that stuck out from my castings were my fingertips.  Dylan and I had just gotten our shit together and began dating, for weeks all he could hold onto on my hand was my fingertips.  In the years together, we never changed how we did things.”

 

The rest of the teammates at the table begin cooing.  Connor is blushing more fiercely now.  The heat on his face is so strong that he decides to bury his face in Dylan’s chest.  More prominent cheering comes from the teammates at the table.  There is now enough of a ruckus that the neighboring tables for the team start in on the action too as Taylor goes around telling everyone what happened.

 

While Taylor has gone blabbing to his teammates, Connor makes a note that if he wants his secrets public, all he has to do is tell Taylor.  Nail leans in, “You know I have boyfriend too right, next time we go Montreal you have to meet him.”

 

“No shit!  Galchenyuk?  Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”  Connor looks like someone just slapped him.

 

Nail doesn’t look shocked at this detail, “He does only to keep some things secret.  We do double date next Montreal game?”

 

Dylan chimes in, “I won’t be able to do it, I have a game of my own around that.  Connor you could always go as a third wheel.”

 

Connor relents, “Sure Nail, I’d love that.  Dinner after the game is the plan then since we play in the afternoon?”

 

Nail corrects the details, “Nope will be night before, we fly to New York after Montreal game.”

 

_February_

 

Connor rejoins the lineup after finally completing rehabilitation on his broken shoulder.  Finally being cleared for contact a couple weeks earlier, Connor got to spend New Year’s with Dylan and their families before returning to Edmonton.  The parting is bittersweet on the couple, but such is life in hockey.

 

The Oilers arrive in Montreal on the heels of a tough game in Ottawa.  Nail wastes no time in taking Connor to meet up with Alex at his Montreal apartment.  Alex had just broken up with Chanel and is in a bit of a grumpy mood about it.  Nail tries in vain to cheer him up by bringing take out for the 3 of them.

 

“Alex sweety, you know Chanel was not for you anyway.  Right love?”  Nail is trying to lighten the mood.  The way Alex is carrying himself in his apartment indicates that he and Nail really aren’t intimate.

 

“You can call me whatever you want Nail, we are not dating.”  Alex retorts.  Nail and Alex have never dated.  Nail is doing this exercise to help Connor be more comfortable about being gay in the NHL.  “Besides my real boyfriend should be here any minute, we were just going to hang out here, you are both welcome to stay for a drink and for us to kick your asses in NHL’16 if you’d like.”

 

Connor is now even more confused than when Nail had told him that he and Alex were a pair.  Although now that he thinks about that conversation, Nail never said he was dating Alex, Connor just assumed that to be fact.”

 

“So Nail,” Connor starts, “You and him are not dating?”

 

Alex starts laughing really hard, “Nail is the last person in the world male or female that I would ever date.  All you need for that is to room with him for one night.  Snores like a freight train, and wakes up even louder.  His midnight snacks would also turn even my mother’s stomach.”

 

A few minutes after they all finish dinner, the front door opens and closes, in walks Brendan Gallagher.  Brendan walks into the kitchen area and kisses Alex then turns and notices that there are more people in the room.  Alex introduces them, “Connor McDavid, I’d like you to meet my _REAL_ boyfriend and teammate, Brendan Gallagher.  Brendan, believe it or not Connor is just like us, he carries ‘the secret’ with him too.”

 

Brendan looks astonished… he knew there were others around the league but few just blurt it out for all to hear.  He walks over to Connor and shakes his hand, “Nice to meet you.  So is Nail your other half?”

 

Connor scrunches his face in disgust.  “Oh hell no, gross!  I have a husband, it’s my former teammate Dylan Strome.  We got married the night before we were drafted.”

 

“No shit, eh?  Hey Alex, when are we getting hitched?”

 

“Let me get past the disaster that was my relationship with Chanel and we’ll talk.”

 

Connor and the Oilers go on to steamroll the Canadiens the following afternoon.

 

_Summer 2018_

 

Dylan and Connor do manage to get summer times together.  They jointly purchased a home in Toronto where they spend their time together.

 

Connor has now been the captain of the Edmonton Oilers for 2 seasons and pretty much resurrected a dying team with his Gretzky like skills.  He never thought he would be in the position to leverage contact negotiations to try and recruit Dylan as well who is now an unrestricted free agent.

 

The Oilers relent on giving Connor a slight raise on the condition that Dylan take a minor pay cut.  It is mutually agreed upon.  No longer do they spend the seasons apart.


End file.
